Insider Selling: Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) CEO Sells $45,500.84 in Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total transaction of $45,500.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,849,817.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Up 6.4 %

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $27.34 on Monday. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.25 and a fifty-two week high of $53.77. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of -8.54 and a beta of -0.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 24.89 and a current ratio of 24.89.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by $0.09. Research analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 42.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,121,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,569 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 10.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,060,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,569,000 after acquiring an additional 384,555 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 19.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,669,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,702,000 after acquiring an additional 584,875 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP bought a new stake in Akero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $83,891,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,881,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,028 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AKRO shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.13.

About Akero Therapeutics

Akero Therapeutics, Inc, together with its subsidiary, engages in the development of treatments for patients with serious metabolic diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is efruxifermin (EFX), which is in Phase 3 clinical trials that protects against cellular stress and regulates the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins throughout the body for the treatment of biopsy-confirmed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) patients.